How To Brew Coffee With The Chemex :: Video Tutorial

I ordered this Chemex brewer a few weeks back and have been playing with it a few times since. At first I was a bit intimidated, but once I tried to use it a few times I quickly learned how to coax a sweet cup of coffee from her. I think it’s a girl….don’t know why, but I just do 😉 There are a

few key things that you MUST have in order to produce a great cup of Chemex coffee.

Chemex Brewing Instructions (How To)

Fill 2 kettles with cold, clean water and place on burner. (don’t use distilled water!)

Place folded filter in top of the chemex brewer with the side with the single paper opposite from the vent

Pour the entire contents of kettle number one into the filter, ensuring you rinse every part of the filter. (eliminates bad taste & preheats)

Weigh the appropriate amount of coffee at a rate of 65 grams / litre. (if you don’t have a digital scale, use 2 level TBS/ 6oz of water. Measure with whole beans prior to grinding.

Add whole beans to grinder (Do not grind until 2 kettle of water is boiling)

When water is boiling remove the kettle from the heat, empty the water from the brewer, replace filter, and add your freshly ground coffee to the center of the paper filter.

Immediately start your 4 minute timer, and begin to slowly add the water to the grounds just a few drops at a time. Wet the grounds, but not enough to cause the water to pass through into the brewer.

Wait about 30 seconds

2nd Pour : Now add about half of the remaining water into the brewer, pouring quickly in a circular motion. Wet all of the grounds and pour as though you are stirring with the water.

3rd Pour : Wait a few moments and being to extremely slowly pour only into the center of the brew. Pour in a circular motion, but only in the middle!

Continue to pour until all of the water is in the brewer.

The entire process should take about 4 minutes. If it takes too long, then you should reduce your dose, or grind more coarsely next time.

Serve and enjoy 🙂

That’s all there is to it! You may have to play with the grind/dose/pour in order to produce the absolute perfect cup, but hey…it’s fun! The Chemex brewer is only about $35 for a six cupper, and the handblown 13 cupper (like mine) is a bit more pricey, but quite a bit sturdier. If you brew in the 13 cup chemex, don’t expect to brew all 13 cups at once. This will require you to use two separate brews, one into the other. Just rinse both filters prior to brewing, then run 2 cycles back to back.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and tips on using the Chemex coffee brewer. Please do so in the comments below 🙂

This week I had the pleasure of trying a few coffees from The Green Coffee Bean Company from Alaska! They didn’t elaborate about their sourcing and the bags didn’t indicate any certifications. Their prices are extremely reasonable, with a pound running from $7.99 to about $10! I really enjoyed the Harar Longberry brewed many ways. I also received a bag of their espresso blend, with light and dark roasted beans blended together. The taste was kinda flat in the press, but boy did it shine when brewed in the Moka Pot! I would’ve loved to have made espresso with it, but my machine isn’t cooperating 🙁 The longberry had great fruitiness, as I believe it was naturally processed (dried with the fruit still on the bean). It’s good to know that Alaskans can get locally roasted fresh coffee!

I also received a very tiny sample from 35 North Coffee Co. I got almost 30 grams of Sumatra IKA Organic in a small fabric pouch. I had just enough to brew one cup in my travel french press, and that was it. When I brewed it, the coffee was about a week off of the roast and not protected from the oxygen so I imagine it didn’t have all of the flavor characteristics it would if it had been consumed quicker. That being said, the flavor was very smooth and dark chocolaty. The flavor wasn’t overwhelming, and it was pleasing to drink. I would have liked to have tried it brewed various ways, but 30g only goes so far.

FREE COFFEE ALERT!

You have until 11:59 pm est on September 30th to enter this month’s coffee contest. Enter the contest by leaving a comment, joining the CoffeeNate.com facebook page, signing up for email updates, or clicking ‘Digg’, Stumble or ‘Tweet’ on any post. I’ll announce the winners via facebook and twitter on October 1st. Best of luck!!

Nate is a special kind of coffee lover. He began drinking the same swill that most others do, but thought there must be something better out there. Sure enough, he was right, even more so than he ever dreamed possible. He soon found his way into the specialty coffee industry, and was tasting exceptional coffees from dozens of roasters from around the country. He is now committed to teaching others how they can appreciate coffee, and how they can make the best coffee in town and save money at the same time! Cheers c[_]